Public Art as a Human-Centered Built-Environment Intervention: The Mediating Role of Perceived Spatial Interaction in Spirit of Place Formation

Rapid modernization and commercialization have weakened the cultural symbolism and social functions of many urban public spaces, yet the mechanisms through which public art contributes to the formation of the spirit of place remain insufficiently theorized and empirically tested. Drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory, this study conceptualizes public art as a cultural-capital intervention situated within a structured field of relations among artists, public authorities, and everyday users, and develops a mediation model linking the physical interactive attributes of public art, perceived spatial interaction, and the perceived formation of the spirit of place. An on-site questionnaire survey at 18 public-art sites in Ningbo, China, yielded 323 valid responses. Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM), and bootstrap mediation tests were employed. The results show that physical interactive attributes significantly and positively affect perceived spatial interaction, which in turn significantly enhances the perceived formation of the spirit of place (p < 0.01). Perceived spatial interaction partially mediates this relationship (indirect effect = 0.183), accounting for 44.3% of the total effect; thus, all three hypotheses are supported. Emotional and cognitive interaction are particularly salient, whereas opportunities for embodied psychological interaction and immersive experience remain comparatively limited. Read through the lens of field theory, these findings indicate that public art converts cultural capital into place meanings only when its physical configuration and spatial setting afford sustained interaction, thereby reproducing the field relations through which habitus and shared place dispositions are formed. These findings indicate that public art contributes to place experience not only through visual or symbolic representation, but also through the interaction opportunities afforded by its physical configuration and spatial setting. The study therefore offers evidence-based implications for human-centered public-space design, socially sustainable urban regeneration, and the improvement of urban human settlements.